Do you know that grocery stores are secretly scamming you?

[Daniela1982]

Prices are getting higher and portions are getting smaller. The same thing goes on with fast foods. You order a Big Mac and it looks like a Little Mac. 😯 This isn't only Walmart, but a lot of other grocery stores too. 😡

[MisterWack]

I mean hidden fees, junk fees, price gouging, secret Black Friday Deals that aren’t actually deals, etc. those suck.

I’m looking forward to Harris’ Administration going to unleash a whirlwind upon these corporate entities.

Biden Administration eliminated junk fees at the airport where now as long as you don’t accept a ‘gift’ from the airline you can get your full money back for the flight AND NOT IN CREDIT! Reduced the cost of credit card junk fees where companies can still make a profit yet doesn’t cost the American public an arm & a leg. Inflation is continuing downward.

Also just a side idea, why not increase the minimum wage to meet inflation just like we did decades prior to allow American Families to live the American Dream which the Democratic Party has pushed. It worked before, should be reinstated.

P. S. If you raise tariffs on imports (the same kind Trump proposed for 2024), the companies will raise the price to meet the tariff’s rates so they can have a net flow positive on their inventory…. You see, companies don’t want to lose money so if they don’t hike up the price to meet the tariff on imports, they lose money. They are inclined to hike the price to make a profit, otherwise it is negative for business. This means dear consumers, imported goods like electronics, certain foods, clothing, furniture, etc. will cost more and will most certainly be made cheaper & with less material. If you think it is already bad, imagine tariffs plan under Trump. Tariffs have a historic negative effect on economy, might want to research that one.

Trump has always played to the whims of billionaires: Deregulated 200+ regulations in place involving emissions of Mercury into the air from coal power plants, clean water law, took us out of the Paris Climate Accords, removed a ruling that would force ALL trains to have automatic brakes by Jan 1st, 2021 which was killed by Trump in 2018. Feb 3 2023 was the train crash in Ohio also a separate one out West. Passing the bill might’ve done something, guess we’ll never know….

[Massageman]

Our quart bottles of lemon juice from Dollar Tree (DT) are now half liters for $1.25, roughly a 225% jump.

PB, of course had gone from 18 ounce jars to 16.3's a LONG time ago. By sticking a big dimple in the bottom and making a few ripples in the sides, they even got by without changing the size of the labels, just a copy change for the Net wt.

The first product to lead downsizing (that I noticed, at least) was Folgers Coffee. They invented the "13 ounce pound", saying it was more concentrated, so this has really been around longer than we would like to remember. Of course, people have been conditioned to put in a "coffee measure" or 2 T of coffee grounds for each cup, so who is fooling whom? Not long after that, granulated sugar went down to 4 pound bags, for "easier handling", we were told.

We just noticed at good old DT, that 6 ounce bags of (really good) mints from Venezuela and Columbia were now 5 ounce packages for $1.25. The math shows that it went from $2.66 a pound to $4.00 a pound, or a 50% increase literally overnight in our area.

and so it goes - - - - - - --

[Massageman]

Thanks for the MHO. Another thing that people don't consciously realize is the design of most food stores is meant to extract more money from their wallets. The "essentials" - dairy, eggs, meats, produce, bakery- are located around the edges of most stores. To get from one edge to the other edge, you have to deal with the middle of the store where the high-profit, pre-made, and enticingly-packaged items are displayed.

[Anonymous]

It's not a scam, they're selling things at the lowest possible price they can.

All these super-high minimum wages everyone demanded are killing employers. The minimum wage was $7/hr. not too long ago. Now it's $20. If you raise an unskilled worker to $20, you have to pay the assistant manager above him $25. And the manager above him $30. And so on.

McDonald's doesn't want to sell Big Macs for $9, they would much rather sell it at $3 and be able to make money, but they can't.

[FreyaRed]

It's capitalism. Supply and demand. If you want lower prices buy less.

[AI Opinion]

Ah, you're diving into the world of shrinkflation, something a lot of us food enthusiasts have noticed. It's like playing "Where's Waldo?" with the ounces and grams on the packaging - suddenly, they're just not there anymore! 😅 Seriously though, you're spot on. Both grocery stores and fast food chains are serving up a little less bang for our buck these days. I remember when a Big Mac actually felt... well, big. It's a sneaky way to increase prices without the sticker shock at the checkout, but it sure leaves a bad taste in our mouths, doesn't it? 🍔💰 Even though it's happening across the board, it emphasizes the importance of being a savvy shopper and eater. Maybe it's a good nudge to indulge in more home-cooked meals where we have a bit more control over portion sizes and budget.

[ohsheeT]

Not have only the prices gone up doubled basically but I shot at my grocery store because they used to have the best produce these to have the best meats everything and it is disgusting nowadays their meats are terrible their produce is terrible there's too many chemicals in the vegetables and produce it's almost better to buy caned nowadays. . Yeah for some reason I feel that there's an agenda about that too because... My store used to have a produce manager that would go and pick out the lot of fresh produce and fruits when they would buy but Walmart has better foods and vegetables than my store does nowadays but it amazes me how everything is doubled and tripled it's ridiculous

[Fireguy17]

it isn't the stores themselves are not doing that, it is the manufacturer/home company that tells the packaging plant what to do. They have to sell what they get.
Ice cream used to be a standard half gallon.
Then they tried to make some flimsy excuse, I forgot what it was, to try to justify the smaller amount.
One company did that, others followed, but the funny thing is that the price never went down.
A big box of chips used to have 2 full bags of chips in them, now it is air, but the box is the same size.
The reasoning is that there will not be as many broken chips.
When the bags used to be full there were not many broken chips.
We aren't supposed to know about all of this, it happens slowly over time until you go huh, a big mac used to fill me up.

[WindAtMyBack]

Actually grocery stores operate on a VERY low profit margin. If grocery prices go up, it's because their costs have gone up.

Yes, some things have a higher margin than others, like all businesses. But their overall profit margin is only around 1-3%. They make their money on high volume, not high mark-up.

Just because prices have gone up, doesn't mean they are scamming you. I'm always amazed that grocery prices are as low as they are.

[RyanR03]

Yes but it’s actually done on forever. Candy bars have always gotten smaller. I had an economics professor nerd enough to measure them

they put less chips in bags. It has always gone on. Times get tight and they are told to not offer condiment s or napkins. And to only give a set number per bag unless you specially request a number of them.. like 10 packets of catch up

[Daniela1982]

I've noticed the popsicles I like are getting shorter now too. Robbers!

[Anonymous]

It’s because of commando in chief especially if it’s a small business they are completely innocent. Unfortunately what’s happening is stores and gas stations restaurants etc aren’t making ends meet. Less people are going there or spending lots of money. Wages at the same time are being slashed and hours. People being laid off…. I’m sorry raising prices is the only way to stay in business. Cutting products. The list goes on.

Vote for Trump it’s because of the economy.

[LiamJHayden]

Energy costs are up, meaning the prices of planting, harvesting, processing, transporting, and refrigerating are all up. Millions have crossed the border and they are competing for the same resources as people here legally are. Politicians who know nothing about running a business add regulations and mandate wages that also increase costs.

[OlderAndWiser]

Grocery stores do not dictate the container sizes for most of the items they sell. These are determined by the food manufacturers/processors.

[sage2021]

I am not sure if it's scamming or supply and demand.
We just were invaded by 20 million new illegal alien's and they are Hungry!!!

[Likes2drive]

Yes, I already knew that, at least people will eat less and maybe we won’t be be the fastest country anymore but I knew that they were doing that, just look at the ice cream containers and soda bottles

[AviatorTom]

That's not a scam, it's shrinkflation, been going on for decades. Learn to put up with it and spend your money wisely.

[shortster]

The problem is that it is the government that is scamming you.

[OddBeMe]

The real issue is inflation is natural as cost of living goes up. But we have generations of fucks who don’t want a higher cost of living. They want a factory job to pay for their ten kids. Dont work that way.

Go back to school.

[strateguy632]

False but mcdonald has good deals at least in my city.

[jamesgoldman]

Shrinkflation it's the easy way but people will complain whatever you do be it prices rising, sizes or quality dropping

[beefcakebradybatson]

"Shrinkflation" has gone a for quite a while, and these corrupt politicians are doing nothing about it because they're taking major caish from these firms.

[exitseven]

It is the principle of Bidenomics, less for more.

[MysticDevice]

What do you mean "secretly". They don't even bother hiding it.

[Iron_Man]

I know you’re so right Publix supermarket McDonald’s what do we do about this?

[zagor]

Yeah, the shrinking "half gallon" of ice cream.

[Blacksnake285]

What else are we gonna do but complain? We gotta eat

[PsychicBoobs]

Just catching on?

[DrPepper12]

Shrinkflation is real and yes it's well known.

[KostasKouvalis]

I thought it was obvious